


An Infection Of Sorts

by chronicAngel



Series: Leaves in the Summer [31]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, POV Third Person, Pregnancy, Talking, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 05:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: "We'll figure something out. You're smart and I'm lucky."





	An Infection Of Sorts

She finds out that she's pregnant not during a happy trip to the hospital with Asuma or taking a test with shaking hands in her apartment's bathroom, but rather while getting checked for a blood infection after risking her life to protect her students on a rare mission ranked incorrectly. Tsunade personally sees to her injuries, but she supposes it's just to avoid her mountains of paperwork.

When she comes back with the results of the blood test, she just gives Kurenai an amused look, and she furrows her eyebrows in confusion back at the Hokage. "Well, Kurenai, I guess you had a good night before Asuma's latest mission, huh?"

Her cheeks heat up immediately. "What does that mean?" She snaps, not in the mood for Tsunade's teasing when she's sitting in a hospital room. The blonde just rolls her eyes and drops the paper, presumably with the results of her blood test, on her lap. Though there is a lot of medical jargon she doesn't understand, she spots "PREGNANCY TEST: POSITIVE" and is sure her heart stutters in her chest for a moment. Her eyes flicker up to meet Tsunade's and then in horror to her flat stomach at the knowing look on the other woman's face. "I can't... I'm a _shinobi_ , I can't bring a child into this world," she says, aware of the panicked edge to her voice, and the other woman's expression shifts to one that is decidedly more sympathetic.

"I... thought you would be happy," she says after a moment, almost apologetically.

"Why would I be happy?" She cries, horrified, and then she realizes that she has to tell Asuma. He's been on a mission for four and a half weeks, and she'd been hoping to jump his bones once he got back to the village, but she realizes now that she has to have a much more serious conversation with him (rather against their routine before or after long term missions, really). In the years that they've been together, they've never talked about children (or the fact that she has never wanted them) and now she doesn't have much of a choice.

She leaves without saying another thing to Tsunade, mumbling a thanks over her shoulder for fixing her up and going to her apartment in a sort of daze. She registers somewhere in the back of her mind that she passes Kakashi at some point, but doesn't wave back to him when he gives her a friendly greeting.

Asuma isn't due to come back to the village for three days and for once she thinks it is not long enough. She does not know how to tell him, and she knows even less how to tell him that she does not want this when she is so sure he will.

She goes to bed, stomach turning with nerves, and finds the next afternoon that Asuma has gotten back two days early.

She is washing dishes when she feels kisses being pressed to the place where her neck and shoulder meet and sighs, leaning back against him comfortably. He smells like smoke and the earth after rain, the same familiar scent he's been wearing for years (though it's always stronger after long missions, she's noticed). Dropping the still-dirty plate in her hands back into the sink, she turns to face him.

His eyes crinkle at the corners from his smile, but she imagines it has more to do with just how much of the time he spends smiling than age. "I missed you so much," he says, and her face softens even as she didn't realize she was stiffened. He leans in to kiss her, and she doesn't stop him until he's moving his hands to her waist to lift her up. Pulling away and panting for air, she stares at him.

"I have to talk to you," she says, and his smile doesn't go away but his face almost seems to fall anyway. She pulls away from him because she's not sure she can make it through this conversation with his hands on her sides, chewing on her lower lip nervously and wringing her hands as she lets her eyes drift to the dirty dishes in the sink just to distract herself. She takes a deep breath and looking back at him. "I went on a mission with the kids that was ranked wrong," she starts, and his expression immediately morphs into one of concern. "I'm fine. I sustained some minor injuries so I went to the hospital to check for a blood infection and..." Her eyes flit to his. "I'm pregnant, Asuma."

He blinks for a second, and then all of the concern melts off of his face until he just looks... alert. "That's it...?" He asks, clearly hesitant, and she is startled by this. By the lack of a positive or negative reaction, just _That's it_?

"Yeah, that's it." They stare at each other in silence for a second before he swallows and glances at his feet.

"Are you... okay with that?" He asks after a second, and she actually stumbles back a step with the shock because this is not what she expected from him. She expected him to pick her up and spin her around and grin and enthuse her about baby names.

She glances at her feet for a second, unable to look at him as she admits, "Kids were... never a part of my plan." He's silent at this, and when she manages to drag her eyes up she sees his thoughtful expression. She wonders what's going through his head, but doesn't ask, standing halfway between her husband and the kitchen sink and waiting for him to say something.

"We definitely didn't... plan for this," he allows, meeting her eyes, and she doesn't know how to respond so she just doesn't. "I didn't want kids until I was... _older_ ," he says, waving a hand through the air. "But we're here now."

She nods, taking a small step toward him. He seems to realize what she's thinking, because after a moment he steps forward and pulls her into his arms, tucking his chin on top of her head. She doesn't know when her eyes got so wet, but she recognizes the sensation of tears on her eyelashes and tries not to sniff. The second he hears that she's struggling not to cry, he'll say whatever she wants, and she doesn't want that. "I was never a part of your plan either," he jokes after a minute, murmuring it sweetly into her hair, and she laughs against his chest.

"You've changed a lot since we were kids. I didn't mind changing my plans for you." His breath is warm against the top of her head when he laughs, and she presses her face closer to his chest. "If I'm going to have a baby, I'm glad that it's with you," she says, pulling away to look him in the eyes, and he smiles softly at her. Once again, he leans in to kiss her, brushing black curls away from her cheeks and ignoring the tears that have begun streaming down her face. She finds the taste of cigarettes on his mouth comforting where she once found it disgusting.

When he pulls away from her mouth, he presses another lingering kiss to her forehead and then mumbles, "We'll figure something out. You're smart and I'm lucky." She snorts and smacks his chest, pushing him away. He looks down at her with a fond look, grinning dumbly, and she rolls her eyes. "I love you," he says, and she just hums.

**Author's Note:**

> She's about one month pregnant here. Asuma dies about two months after this fic.


End file.
